1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a straddle-type electric vehicle that is driven by an electric motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2015-089757 and WO 2013/061484 disclose a straddle-type electric vehicle that use an electric motor as a driving source of the vehicle. The electric vehicle includes a control unit for outputting an instruction value in response to an operation by a driver on an accelerator operation member and an inverter that supplies a driving electric power to an electric motor in accordance with the instruction value (in WO 2013/061484, the control unit is referred to as an “ECU”). In the vehicle disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2015-89757, a motor case that stores the electric motor is disposed below a battery case, and the inverter is located in the motor case. In the vehicle disclosed in WO 2013/061484, a case that stores the inverter is disposed behind the battery case.
WO 2013/061484 further discloses that an operation member, such as a main key, a light switch, or the like, besides the accelerator operation member, is connected to the controller.
When the control unit is disposed in the case that stores the inverter, the electric components are able to be assembled together within a smaller area. However, since many operation members of a straddle-type electric vehicle are provided on a steering handle, a long electric wire is necessary to connect the operation members and the control unit when the control unit is located in the case that stores the inverter. This creates troublesome work in laying out the electric wire and increases the cost of the electric wire.